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PA DCNR 2020 Fire Company Assistance Grant
March 30, 2020 Dear Fire Company Officer: The application period is currently open for a grant made available through Section 10(b)3 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (Volunteer Fire Assistance). All applications must be electronically submitted by 4:00 pm on May 21, 2020. Applications can be found at www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us, DCNR’s E-Grants website. Section 10(b)3 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, as amended by the Forest Stewardship Act of 1990, authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial, technical and other assistance to state foresters or other appropriate officials in cooperative efforts to organize, train and equip local forces in rural areas or communities under 10,000 population to prevent, control and suppress fires which threaten human life, livestock, wildlife, crops, pastures, orchards, woodlands, farmsteads, or other improvements in rural areas. The key objectives of this program are to save lives and protect property in unprotected or inadequately protected rural areas. Therefore, the selection of the participating agencies must be based on vulnerability and the adequacy of existing fire protection. This is a cost-share program. Financial assistance on any project during any fiscal year cannot exceed 50% of the actual expenditures including expenditures of local, public and private nonprofit organizations participating in the agreement. The maximum grant we will consider for the 2020 program is $10,000 ($20,000 total project) per Fire Company. Grants received for the 2020 program can be used for the purchase of wildfire suppression equipment, wildfire protective gear, mobile or portable radios, installation of dry hydrants, wildfire prevention and mitigation, or wildfire training. Funds may also be used for certain projects involving the conversion and maintenance of federal excess vehicles received from the Bureau of Forestry and used for fire suppression. A priority will be placed on projects that include the purchase of wildland fire suppression equipment and wildland fire protective gear. Grants received for the 2020 program cannot be used for the purchase of structural fire equipment or protective gear, supply hose larger than 2½ inches in diameter, structures, routine maintenance of vehicles not received from the Bureau of Forestry, medical services, ambulance services, fire police equipment and gear, search and rescue equipment and gear, or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Federal regulations require that all single item purchases costing over $5,000 be tracked, therefore purchases of items costing this amount will be limited to new/used 4X4 vehicles which will be utilized as a Type 6 or 7 Wildland Engine as defined by the NWCG (www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/memos/eb-m-08-006.pdf) costing $40,000 or less, slip-on/skid units, pumps, and UTVs only. Due to high demand and limited funding there is a 5-year waiting period between years a fire company is eligible to receive a grant. However, if a fire company received a $6,000 grant or less in the last 5 years, they are eligible for assistance one additional time as long as the 2-year total does not exceed the $10,000 maximum grant. Their 5-year ineligible period will start the year they receive their second grant. All items approved for purchase under the 2020 VFA program must be purchased upon award of grant to January 15, 2021. Since planning is the key to the efficient and effective use of equipment, personnel and organization, priority will be given to fire companies which have established goals and objectives and have developed plans to meet them. If you are interested in applying for a cost-share grant, please complete the on-line eGrant application form by the deadline. In completing the form, please be specific in the project scope, stating what the grant will be used for. We cannot act favorably on applications which list only “funds” as the type of assistance requested. Any designee may be the Project Coordinator but the fire company President, Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer must certify the application. Application forms certified by other individuals will not be accepted. If you have any questions please e-mail us at RA-NR_FOR_VFA@pa.gov. Sincerely, Charles C. Choplick Logistics & Finance Section Chief Division of Forest Fire Protection
www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us
DCNR Grants is an electronic grants system that provides one-stop shopping to the grantee community for all Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grants.William Dakota Miller
Rich Asel Matt Asel
Coronavirus, First Responders and Stress Management [Webinar]
[Webinar]
First Responders, Stress Management and Coronavirus:
How to take care of yourself and your family during this crisis
Thursday, April 2, 1pm ET/ 10am PT
Coronavirus transformed our lives nearly overnight. Suddenly, we’re bombarded with messages: Stay home, shelter in place, avoid sick people, flatten the curve, not enough ventilators, you may be a carrier for days without symptoms.
For emergency services professionals, the extra layers of worry on top of jobs that are nerve-wracking by design can quickly become overwhelming.
In this free webinar, former paramedic, law enforcement trainer and resilience expert Mike Taigman will explain how stress affects first responders and provide strategies you can use to manage during the long haul of this pandemic.
You’ll learn:
How stress during emergencies such as the coronavirus outbreak impacts our bodies at a cellular, psychological and emotional level
Strategies you can start to use instantly to lower your stress and build resilience during the coronavirus crisis
Practical ways public safety leaders can help decrease stress for their personnel on the frontlines of this epidemic
Presented by:
Mike Taigman, Improvement Guide and Lead, ResilientFirst - FirstWatch
Register Today!
Registration is free. Can't make it? Register anyway and we'll send you a recording after the event.
Questions? Contact us.
Lexipol | 2611 Internet Blvd., Suite 100, Frisco, TX 75034 | 844-312-9500
info.lexipol.com/webinar-coronavirus-stress-management
First Responders, Stress Management and Coronavirus
info.lexipol.com
Coronavirus transformed our lives nearly overnight. Suddenly, we’re bombarded with messages: Stay home, shelter in place, avoid sick people, flatten the curve, not enough ventilators, you may be a c...Legislative Alert - Co-Sponsorship Memo
Crisis Grants for Volunteer Fire / EMS
Contact your member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
📷
Please see the below co-sponsorship memo which proposes to provide a one-time crisis grant to help VFD's and EMS companies during this challenging time.
We ask you to please contact your Representative ( find your Representative and their contact information here: www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address ) and ask them to please co-sponsor this much needed piece of legislation.
MEMORANDUM
Posted:
March 26, 2020 04:15 PM
From:
Representative Pam Snyder
To:
All House members
Subject:
COVID-19 Crisis Grant Program for Volunteer Fire & EMS Companies
Our first line of defense against the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 includes our volunteer fire companies and emergency medical services agencies. They are being asked to expose themselves to this deadly virus that is impacting our state at an unprecedented scale.
Even while facing this grave threat to their health, our first responders are being put in an unsustainable financial bind. The Governor's efforts to slow the spread of the virus have made fundraising by volunteer fire companies all but impossible. At the same time, medical facilities and the public are postponing other medical treatments, which has led to a stark decline in the number of non-emergency calls being run by our EMS agencies -- and those are the calls that often pay the bills for these first responders.
Our firefighters and EMS personnel need immediate financial assistance. I am proposing a COVID-19 Crisis Fire & EMS Grant Program to provide an additional, one-time grant to each fire and EMS company agency that has been approved by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Office of the State Fire Commissioner for an annual grant for the 2019-20 fiscal year. Crisis grants would be automatically awarded with no need for companies to apply. The program would end after 180 days.
The grants will be funded by a one-time transfer of $30 million from the Volunteer Companies Loan Fund, which has previously been done to balance the state budget in both 2014 and 2016. I will pursue separate legislation to restore this funding when the immediate emergency passes.
I hope you will join me in recognizing the extraordinary need to support our volunteer fire companies and EMS agencies in this challenging time by co-sponsoring my bill to create the crisis grant program. Our first responders answer the call for us, and we must do the same for them.
Survey on Volunteer Emergency Services COVID-19 Experiences
Survey on Volunteer Emergency Services COVID-19 Experiences
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